In Jaffna, 24 skeletons were unearthed near Duraiappah stadium between 4 and 10 April. As Jaffna Additional magistrate SAE Ekanathan sought assistance from forensic experts, Ruhuna University’s Professor N Chandrasiri declared that proper scientific methods were not used in the excavation and vital evidence may have been destroyed. Preliminary reports suggest that the site is around ten years old, placing the suspicion on the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) and the LTTE.
The excavation of mass graves at Chemmani is scheduled for 16 June. The police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) began interviewing relatives of the disappeared on 20 April, in Colombo and Jaffna, as a prelude to the excavation. But the magistrate appointed for the enquiry had left for the US on a two-year study leave, ten days earlier.
Workmen digging near Vallipuram Alvar Hindu temple in Vadamaratchy in mid-April found a woman’s body in a shallow grave. The Army ordered the grave to be closed and investigations seem unlikely.